GEORGIE THE ABACO MANATEE – CHEROKEE’S SIRENIAN VISITOR STAYS ON…

There must be something special about Cherokee on Abaco. Georgie the Manatee, having travelled over from the Berry Is. early last month, spent 4 weeks or so on the move. She was tracked on the west side of Abaco in the Marls, moving north and rounding Little Abaco, then travelling south visiting various Cays along the way, ending up in Hope Town harbour. After a few days she moved across from Elbow Cay to the Little Harbour area, before settling down in Cherokee. That was nearly 3 weeks ago. She’s still there, by far the longest she has stayed in one place

Maybe the sea grass is especially good there. Or maybe she has found a tasty freshwater spring. Or it could be that she is enjoying the company there, and the welcome from the community – though she of course has been a very popular visitor in all her ports of call. Whatever the reason, she seems to be happy and in good health. Kendria Ferguson (BMMRO) has just sent me 3 photos from her visit to Cherokee today. Georgie has managed to shed her tag – again – but since everyone knows where she is, it doesn’t matter for now…

The image below is also posted on the BMMRO’s FACEBOOK PAGE and maybe gives a clue to why Georgie is so content – calm, friendly interest and attention. The next one is of a young boy inspecting Georgie, also in Cherokee. Equally peaceful.

Let’s compare and contrast those serene pictures with another taken recently – the woman below who was detained in Florida for her ‘manatee riding’ antics…

I’m waiting to get news of Georgie – the hurricane has passed, but I don’t know how she has fared. Communications on the island are still being restored, but I’ll do an update when I get some info. (PS I doubt that any sailor made the same mistake twice!)

Hi Jody, glad you enjoy following the Georgie saga. It’s quite a privilege to have a manatee visit Abaco at all, let alone hang around! It’s great that there is such a professional organisation to protect them (along with the whales and dolphins of course). You can see how gentle and trusting they are – and how vulnerable that can make them. What that woman thought she was doing, we’ll never know. The sheriff’s office might find out for us!!!!